A month later in Central Seoul.
Seongji walked down the street, looking for a part-time job. Since he was always at home, boredom had begun to set in. A part-time job seemed like a good way to pass the time.
As he walked, he came upon a convenience store with a notice board that read:
"Part-time help needed. Hours and pay negotiable."
The store seemed pretty small, but it was quite close to his house, so Seongji decided to check it out. As soon as he entered, he was greeted by a short man with a large mustache, wearing a green shirt and scrolling on his phone.
Seeing Seongji, the man stood up. "Hello, customer. What can I help you with?"
Seongji shook his head. "I'm not here to buy anything. I saw the notice board outside. Are you recruiting a part-time worker?"
The mustached man thought to himself, "Damn! I've hooked a big one. Sales are gonna increase for sure."
Before Seongji could say anything else, the man exclaimed, "You're hired! What hours do you want to work? You can choose. How much do you want? I'll pay whatever it takes."
Seongji thought, "Wow! What a great guy."
---
Meanwhile, Baki was following a car on his bike. He had just returned from Chungcheong when Tom Lee called and assigned him a new mission.
The mission was simple: capture the boss of a rival company on behalf of their client.
The car slowly entered an underground garage. Baki followed. Several cars blocked the entrance, and men started emerging from them.
A fat man stepped out, lit a cigarette, and took a drag. "Hey, kid. Why are you following me? Did someone pay you? Who was it?"
Baki slowly got off his bike and cracked his neck. "Old man, why waste time discussing all this? Either you defeat me to get your information, or I kill you so you won't need any."
An enemy lunged at Baki with a hockey stick. Without even looking back, Baki performed a reverse roundhouse kick, sending the attacker crashing into a pillar.
The cigarette dropped from the fat man's mouth. He shouted, "What the fuck are you bastards doing?! Attack him all at once!"
The enemies rushed at Baki. Time seemed to slow down from his perspective. He surged forward slightly and delivered an overhead axe kick with his leading leg to one enemy. Then he twisted and struck another with a high roundhouse kick to the head, followed by a crescent kick that launched a third enemy into the air.
He rushed at three incoming enemies with a sequence of long-reaching roundhouse kicks. Then he stepped aside and launched a fast kick at another enemy's leg, tripping him, before sending him flying with a brutal uppercut.
When time returned to normal, all the enemies were on the ground. The guards at the back stood frozen in shock. The fat man was terrified. The fact that half his guards had been finished before he even knew what was happening was horrifying. He stammered backward. "Y-You! I'll pay more than whatever he's paying! D-Don't come any closer!"
Baki shook his head. "No, no, no. I can't do that. It would stain my reputation, you know."
The fat man shouted at his remaining guards. "S-Stop him! I'll pay handsomely to whoever defeats him!"
The guards, previously scared, suddenly felt more courageous after hearing about the money.
A slight smile appeared on Baki's face. The remaining guards rushed at him. One punched at his face. Baki grabbed his fist and slowly crushed it.
"Aaaarrggh!"
The man screamed in pain. Still holding his fist, Baki started spinning him and threw him into the incoming enemies. Another tried to stab Baki with a knife. Baki grabbed his arm, twisted it while taking away the knife, then slammed the enemy down and began crushing the knife with his bare hands.
"Hmm... It's a dangerous thing, you know? Kids shouldn't play with these."
The remaining guards surrounded him and jumped at him together. Baki leaped up and performed a powerful spinning kick that sent all the enemies flying.
The last enemy cried out and rushed forward with a knife. Baki grabbed him, delivered two knee strikes to his face, then hit him with a kick to the chin. The guard fell, his eyes rolling back.
Seeing all this, the fat man had pissed himself. Baki pinched his nose. "Tch! I should have taken you down first." With that, he slammed his fist into the man's face, knocking him out.
After the fat man was unconscious, Baki pulled out his phone and dialed the client's number.
Within a few moments, several people arrived. A tall, lean man with white hair approached Baki.
"Haha! I guess your reputation doesn't lie!"
Baki scratched his head. "I'm a busy person, you see, so I'll be going now."
With that, Baki got on his bike and left.
Charles Choi looked back at Baki's retreating figure with interest.
---
A few weeks later.
Seongji entered the convenience store. The owner smiled at him. Ever since Seongji had joined, sales had rocketed. As he was handing over the shift to Seongji, a tall, slender boy entered the store. "Excuse me... Are you still looking for a part-time worker? I saw the sign outside."
The owner looked back at the boy with surprise. "Damn! Does my shop have some kind of blessing or something?! I've hooked another big one!"
The owner quickly repeated what he had said to Seongji during his recruitment. But the boy nervously shook his head. "Oh... But it's not for me. It's for my friend..."
The owner's face fell slightly. He said, "Send your friend here tonight. I might not be present." Then he pointed at Seongji. "This is your senior. He'll check everything."
He turned to Seongji and said as politely as possible, "If you like the new hire, you can take him on. I hope it won't cause you any trouble."
Seongji shook his head and smiled. "No problem, manager. I'll take care of it."
Daniel bade goodbye to the manager and Seongji Yuk.